New campaign targets bingeing women's vanity

It has reached that stage of the night where the fifth glass of white wine is on offer.

Drinking it will almost certainly guarantee that the evening enters that otherworldly domain where there is no place for inhibitions.

There could be falling out of the cab after having a good chat to the driver all the way home, thinking it is suddenly OK to send that text message saying how you really feel, and grabbing a kebab from that shop on the corner which is never approached in daylight.

Yes, one drink too many can damage your love life, and leave you with a few bruises at the end of the evening, but excessive alcohol is also ruining young women's appearance.

This has prompted the Portman group, a body funded by the drinks industry to tackle the social problems linked with alcohol, to market an anti-binge drinking message as a beauty product to try to reach young women, urging them to consider what alcohol is doing to their eyes, skin and general smell.

They've called it "masq crème de regret" - a potion to remind women how excess alcohol affects their looks.

Almost inevitable after a big night out are bloodshot eyes, blotchy skin and the smell of alcohol seeping from the pores for much of the following day.

But binge drinking can also result in broken capillaries around the nose and cheeks as alcohol dilates blood vessels close to the surface of the skin.

Certain drinks dry out the skin, because alcohol blocks the release of the antidiuretic hormone, and causes the kidneys to excrete excess body fluid.

And then there are the permanent scars from that odd fall, which didn't hurt at all, at the time.

The mock beauty lotion which is to act as a reminder of these ailments comes in a glass jar with gold labelling and looks just like one of the thousands of other sophisticated beauty products which line department stores.

But then, there on the label, is a silver outline of a woman's upper body. Her hands are placed over her eyes, she is leaning over - and throwing up.

It is intended to be a savvy way of driving home an old message which has dulled in the minds of many young women as promotions such as happy hour become more popular.

"We thought this was a nice idea to capture them," Samantha Jobber of the Portman Group explained.

"It looks like any other beauty advertisement until you pick it up and look closer when it lists some of the short term effects of alcohol which a lot people forget about - which is basically how rough you look the next day."

Pastel coloured posters and postcards advertising the faux cosmetic brand, which look similar to current cosmetic advertisements, will be placed in 250 pubs, clubs and coffee houses around the country next month.

What women will find when they pick up these advertisements is a reminder of the government-recommended daily intake of two to three units. But the question is whether women will be moved to moderate their drinking for the sake of their appearance.

The Portman group says it has tried to appeal to women's vanity, an area of weakness which was likely to have more of an effect than a "finger wagging" campaign.

Ms Jobber said it was important to remind women that the longer they drink each night, although they may feel they look stunning their looks are declining with each glass.

"We decided to target women this year, there's been a lot of press about how much younger women are drinking," she said.

"Women are having babies later, they have more disposable income to socialise and are more independent. It is acceptable for a woman to be in a pub drinking with the boys now, when it wasn't in the 1950s."

While drinking habits of men are heavier than women, they have remained steady over the last 20 years, whereas the level at which women are drinking has increased and many will engage in episodic drinking with their male friends.

Among women aged 16-24, the proportion drinking more than 35 units a week has more than tripled rising from 3% in 1998 to 10% in 2002.

The Portman Group's chief executive, Jean Coussins, says the pretend beauty lotion has been made to look like something that has been developed by white-coated experts working in a lab, who are trying to hang onto a secret formula.

"In fact, there is no secret," she added.

"Women who want to drink should stick to the government's recommended daily guidelines of three units if they don't want to start running any health risks."